In significant changes in the draft Land Acquisition Bill, the proposed legislation will now be in force with retrospective effect and provide for five times higher compensation to those affected in the SC/ST category.
The revised draft Bill specifically says that Rehabilitation and Resettlement Package will be applicable if a private party purchases 50 acres of land or beyond it in urban areas for the purpose of urbanisation. The draft legislation has been sent for inter-Ministerial consultation and is likely to be introduced in the Parliament during the current session.
Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh said that the bill will be applicable to all the cases of land acquisition before the date of the commencement of the Act if the award under 1894 Act has not been made. It will also be applicable if the posession of the land has not been taken regardless of whether the award has been made or not.
Therefore he said that the retrospective effect will not be on the basis of any date, but it is on the basis of a stage.
The new draft bill makes it mandatory for an acquirer to give Rs.5 lakhs compensation, instead of the earlier figure of Rs. 2 lakhs, if it is unable to provide emloyment under the package.
Mr. Ramesh said that the change were made after the ministry received a large number of comments from the farmer's organisation like the National Alliance for Peoples Movements (NAPM), political parties and industries.
The Minister said that the change that has been made in the new bill is applicable for 100 acres in rural areas and 50 acres in urban areas.
News Reported by AR for Newsvision
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